Metal Hearts
by UltimateKawaiiGirl
Summary: Tak and MiMi have crash-landed on Earth. Tak is taking the opportunity to try to take Zim's mission again, and MiMi, of course, is assisting her. But MiMi keeps running into Zim's defective SIR unit, Gir... who has the strangest desire to be friends. MiMi x Gir romance. Rated K-plus in case.
1. Back on Earth

A/N: I really shouldn't be starting another story, I SHOULD be working on Separation of Doom, but I'm kind of stuck and I had this idea. Sorry if it's not very good, I might make some changes later. Enjoy!

MiMi slowly came into consciousness as she reactivated. The crash had caused her to shut off. She couldn't yet observe her surroundings; her visuals hadn't initiated. She wasn't aware of how much time had passed since the crash, or even where they'd landed. What she did know was that the escape pod had bounced off another planet in its fall, sending it in the opposite direction and causing it damage. It would certainly help in analyzing the situation if she could see… MiMi's eyes blinked from grey to red and she looked around, relieved that she hadn't lost her visual perception permanently. She was next to her mistress's fallen escape pod, which Tak and MiMi had escaped in when that fool Zim had tried to drop them out of the sky. Tak… MiMi looked over at her mistress. She was lying on the ground beside MiMi, eyes closed, still but breathing. She was unconscious. MiMi gently poked Tak's shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. Tak's arm twitched, and then her eyes opened.

"What… happened?" she asked, sounding a bit incoherent. She sat up. "MiMi! Analyze our surroundings."

MiMi did so. The ground they'd crashed on was covered in green grass. She looked at the sky. It was night, 11:12 to be exact. There was a single moon in the sky. No one was around… the inhabitants of wherever they were were most likely diurnal. As her processor gathered the information, the word EARTH flashed across her screen. MiMi traced out the planet's name in the dirt to inform her mistress.

"Earth?" Tak exclaimed. "Still? I thought we left this place… The escape pod must have landed here… Although that may not be a bad thing after all. We can still take this planet back!"

MiMi nodded. Her mistress was brilliant, as usual.

"I'm not sure if the hot dog stand was destroyed after we left. If it wasn't, we can stay there and formulate a new plan. MiMi, which direction is it?"

MiMi pointed northeast.

"All right. We must first activate our disguises." Tak pressed a button on her PAK which she had installed to activate their holographic disguises. She winced as she did so, but said nothing.

The two soon found their way to the ex-magma pump. It still stood- in fact, a shout of "DEELISHUS WEENIE!" confirmed that the humans had continued to use it for its supposed purpose after Tak had left. That wasn't a problem, however, as Tak posed as the owner's daughter, as was her false identity, and convinced the employees to leave the building. Tak ordered MiMi to make a sign reading "CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE" and hang it on the front of the building to ensure they would not be disturbed.

"MiMi, scan me for injuries," Tak said when their preparations were finished.

MiMi found that Tak's right arm was broken, but, aside from some bruises, she was otherwise fine. MiMi took out the notepad she always carried with her and wrote Tak a note telling her the results.

"I thought so," Tak said. "It's a shame our supplies were in the ship. MiMi, go and find me a human first-aid kit. I can probably make any necessary modifications, the things I need shouldn't be all that different."

MiMi saluted her mistress in assent, and zoomed off, becoming nothing but a dark blue streak. She raced past a Video Outhouse and some apartment buildings before crashing into something.

"HIIIIIII!" a voice shrieked. "I remember you, kitty!"

She knew that voice. Yes, there was a strange green dog standing before her. This was Zim's defective SIR unit. She looked at him disapprovingly, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah! Your master's my master's friend!"

MiMi narrowed her eyes. Tak and Zim had never been friends. Where was he getting this idea?

"Now we can be bestest friends! I was gettin' me some tacos." He gestured at the restaurant they were standing next to, a place called Krazy Taco. MiMi wondered why the word crazy was misspelled on their sign.

"Wanna get tacos with me?" the dog-suited SIR continued.

MiMi shook her head.

"Awwwww, why?"

MiMi turned and zipped off away from him. Before long, she located a drugstore which advertised selling first-aid kits in its window. But it was then that she realized a flaw in Tak's order- certainly a rare occurrence. MiMi was disguised as a cat. Cats did not go into stores and buy things. And besides that, she had no Earth money. She stared at the sign, trying to think of a way around these problems.

"What's wrong, kitty-cat?" a loud voice asked brightly. MiMi turned and saw Zim's SIR unit sitting beside her. Had he really followed her here?

"We…. Sell…. First…. Aid…. Kits," he read from the sign. "OH! Does you want one a' those? I can get it!"

MiMi almost tried to stop him as he ran into the store, then realized she had no reason to. When the humans became suspicious of a shopping dog, it was Zim's so-called mission that would be in jeopardy, not Tak's. Let him go.

To her shock, though, as she watched him through the window, MiMi saw that somehow, the humans had no problem with his buying of a first-aid kit. They acted as if it happened every day. Humans were so stupid. MiMi hadn't seen as much of Earth as Zim or his SIR- he was called Gir- had, but she knew that dogs did not buy things, speak, or walk on two legs. Gir was doing all of these things, and no one seemed to notice.

Gir ran out the door of the store and up to MiMi. "Here ya gooooo! You happy now? I hopes you are! Wanna get tacos now?"

MiMi shook her head again. Why had he helped her? She turned again, and zipped off towards the place she and her mistress were staying.

"Your name is MiMi!" Gir shouted after her in realization. "Bye, MiMi!"


	2. Forbidden

A/N: Sorry this chapter is short. I mean, my chapters are usually short, but this one more so. It might also be a little longer before the next one, I don't have more planned out yet. But maybe it won't, who knows. Okay, now I'm just rambling. Presenting Chapter 2!

"What?" Tak asked. "Zim's SIR unit gave this to you?"

MiMi nodded.

"I'm not touching this! He probably sabotaged it! Although I doubt Zim could think of a plan like that."

MiMi wrote a note and handed it to her mistress.

"Well, if you saw him buy it, then I suppose it couldn't have been… Why? Why would that Gir _help _you- help _me_?"

MiMi shrugged, then wrote a note asking her mistress another puzzling question.

_He said he wanted to be… friends. Why?_

Tak looked taken aback for a moment, but quickly shook off her shock. "He must be malfunctioning even more badly than I thought. It's not in a SIR's programming to betray its master. Unless it's part of some sort of trick. Either way, MiMi, don't let yourself be corrupted. I want you to stay away from that SIR unit unless it relates to our plan. Do you understand?"

MiMi nodded.

"Good."

* * *

"MASTERRRRR! GUESS WHAT?" Gir dashed into his and Zim's base, carrying a bag of tacos. He ran into the kitchen, flushed himself down the toilet and into the lab, where Zim was working on something, Gir didn't know what.

"Guess what? Guess who I saw?" Gir asked excitedly.

Zim sighed. "Who, Gir?"

"I saw MiMi!"

"Whaa-? Isn't that what Tak named her SIR unit?"

"Yuh-huh!" Gir smiled.

"GIR! This is bad news! This means Tak is back on Earth! She wants to steal my precious _mission_! Why do you look so happy?"

"I like MiMi."

"No you don't. Gir, Tak is our enemy!"

"But I'm not talkin' 'bout Tak. This is MiMi. MiiiiMiiiiii." Gir leaned close to his master's face as he said this, giggling at saying MiMi's name. He liked to say her name.

"Still. Don't interact with her."

"Yes, my master!" Gir's eyes turned red for a moment and he saluted. But then they turned back to their usual cyan and he smiled to himself, already having forgotten the order. He couldn't wait to see MiMi again.


	3. Back to Skool with Tak

A/N: Sorry for the not-good chapter title, I couldn't think of anything else.

Over the next couple of days, Gir kept thinking back to his encounter with MiMi. He couldn't get the girl robot out of his head. He didn't know why, but instead of wondering about it too much, he decided to deal with it by making her name into a cheerful little song, which he sung as he went about his day.

"MiMi, MiMi, MiMi, MiMi." Gir made his rubber piggy dance to the song. "MiMiMiMiMiMiMiMi-"

"GIR!" Zim shouted.

"Yeah?" Gir turned to his master, cheerfully squeaking the pig.

"What is with you lately? You're even more distracted than usual."

Gir giggled.

"TELL ME!"

"I's thinkin' about MiMi again."

"Why?"

"She's nice!"

"I told you, Gir, she is not your friend. She belongs to Tak. She's out to destroy our mission!"

Gir stared at Zim. "MiMi's my friend!" he insisted.

"SILENCE!"

* * *

Meanwhile, MiMi was also thinking about Gir, but for a different reason. She was still puzzled by what he'd said to her- "Now we can be bestest friends!" But what flummoxed her was not his unnecessary suffix. It was the very concept of the two being 'friends.' Tak and Zim were enemies- was he not loyal to his master? Besides, SIR units had no emotions, therefore they were incapable of true friendship. She could usually make sense of anything; it was in her programming. But this made no sense. She questioned Tak about this. Perhaps she'd understand better.

"MiMi, that SIR has no concept of enemies and allies. He's useless. We have more important things to think about. Such as… the new plan to take over this planet. Something that will amaze the Tallest. I haven't come up with one yet, but it should be on both our minds."

MiMi saluted.

"I'm going out, MiMi. If I can find out more about this planet, it will help me think of a plan. You stay here and make sure no one gets in."

MiMi nodded as she watched her mistress leave.

* * *

Tak scanned the area around her. A man pushed an ice cream cart by, begging for people to buy his wares. A baby screamed as its mother tried to calm it by pushing its stroller back and forth. Someone in a taco costume waved to her outside a restaurant. Humans lived such trivial lives. She watched as a man in a uniform walked by with a stern look on his face- but then she realized he was approaching her.

"Is there a problem?" Tak asked innocently.

"Yeah, there's a problem, little girl. How old are you?"

"Ten," she answered. She had designed her disguise to resemble a child of approximately that age.

"Why aren't you in skool?"

"I was just on my way," she lied.

"It's twelve-thirty. You should have been there already. You're comin' with me."

"But-" She began to protest, but stopped herself. Although she didn't want to alert Zim of her return this soon, she supposed this was necessary to blend in, as much as she hated it. She could only hope she wouldn't be placed in the same class as he was. Perhaps there was another skool nearby, and she'd end up there.

These thoughts were interrupted by the man grabbing Tak roughly by her right arm, which caused a pain to shoot down said arm. She'd always had a high pain tolerance, though; she didn't outwardly react to this as she was dragged away, only noting the discomfort in her mind. It wasn't long before the destination was reached. Tak looked up and saw, to her dismay, that this was indeed the same skool she'd attended (albeit briefly) before.

"You're in the fifth grade, right?"

"Yes," Tak answered, prying his hand off her arm. "But I can walk myself."

"Okay, but I have to accompany you to make sure you don't run off."

The two walked into the skool and down the hallway, until they reached a door marked "ROOM 5," which the man promptly shoved her through.

"I found this one wandering around the streets," he said to the teacher- Tak remembered her name being Ms. Bitters- before leaving.

"Another one? Oh. You've been here before," Ms. Bitters said to Tak.

"Where'd you go?" asked a girl with long dark hair.

"I was on vacation with my father," Tak answered.

"Why are you here?" Zim shouted.

"I'm here because I've returned from my vacation. Didn't I make that clear?"

"Poonchy! To the underground classroom!" Ms. Bitters said. She pressed a button and the child called Poonchy disappeared into the ground. "Take your seat, Tak."

Tak did so.

"Now, we'll continue our lesson about the sun, and how it will eventually burn out and leave us all helpless to stand in the cold darkness until we wither and die!"

Tak could see, at the desk next to her, that Zim was writing something down in a notebook.

_Get giant fire hose to put out the sun so humans will die_

She smirked. Really? That was the best he could do? No, she wasn't surprised.

Tak tuned out Ms. Bitters and turned her mind back to her plan, while trying to make it seem as if she were paying attention.

* * *

MiMi waited and waited. It had been two hours now since her mistress had left. She should have been back by now. What could be keeping her? MiMi listed the options. She could simply be distracted. She could still be analyzing the humans. Or she could have thought of a plan and be putting the first stages into action. Any of those, or… something could have happened to her. MiMi considered her options. The direct order had been to stay here. But if Tak were in danger… The SIR code did permit disobeying a direct order in the case that one's master were at risk. MiMi decided it would be in Tak's best interest if she went out to check. The building was still 'closed for maintenance,' so the chances of anyone getting in were minimal. She activated her holographic disguise and dashed out the door. She looked around- no sign of her mistress here. MiMi did have a program that would lead her to Tak, but she had to be within range. So she moved on.

It wasn't long before MiMi was in range of her mistress. She followed the path her system gave her and soon found herself outside a building labeled "SKOOL." Why would Tak be here? Zim was here at this time. She'd told MiMi that they weren't to reveal their presence to him until later. MiMi went around the back and jumped onto the windowsill of the classroom her mistress had been in previously. Sure enough, she was there, sitting at a desk, whole and unharmed. Good.

"MiMi!" a shrill voice yelled from behind MiMi. She turned and saw Gir again, standing in the bushes below eating a cupcake.

"Hi MiMi! I didn't know you was gonna be here!"

MiMi turned away.

"I'm just waitin' for Master to come out. You waitin' too? Wanna wait together?"

MiMi leapt down from the windowsill, intending to go back to the Deelishus Weenie stand she was currently calling home, but Gir grabbed her and locked her in a tight hug before she could get away.

"We're bestest friends!" he said, repeating the phrase that puzzled MiMi so much. The green-dog-disguised robot's grip was surprisingly strong, but she pulled away and rushed back home, quick as lightning, before he could say another word.

* * *

A/N: (Jul. 27, 2012) I made a small update, adding a funny (well, I think it's funny) idea that I had. And no, Poonchy's not dead. He's just under the skool. He'll be returned here whenever Tak leaves. XD


	4. We Meet Again

Tak sighed. Finally, the day was over. Now she could go back to what she was really supposed to be doing while she was here.

"Now, everyone out," Ms. Bitters said. Everyone cheered and several children flipped out the windows, while others rushed through the hallway. Tak took the hallway route. It was then that she realized MiMi didn't know where she'd been all day. Well, she'd find out soon.

It didn't take long for Tak to get back to the Deelishus Weenie stand. She walked inside, where she found MiMi waiting for her. She turned off her disguise, making sure to close the door first, and began to explain her absence.

"I know I was gone longer than I said I would be, MiMi. I was forced to attend skool again. Unfortunately, this means Zim now knows we're here…"

_I know where you were, Mistress. I went out to look for you. Understand that I was doing this for your well-being, _MiMi wrote.

Before Tak could answer, there was a fierce knocking at the door. She quickly activated her disguise and went to answer, wondering who could possibly be visiting a closed hot dog stand.

"The sign says 'closed for maintenance, can you not rea-"

She stopped. It was Zim.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped.

"I was about to ask you the same thing!"

"How did you know where to find me?"

"Me!" the little green dog at his side exclaimed. "I followed MiMi, and then taked Master here after he came outta skool!"

MiMi glared at Gir, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, he grinned and hugged her tightly.

"Get off of her, you horribly-disguised defect!" Tak said to Gir.

"My disguises are BRILLIANT, Tak-beast!" Zim shouted as MiMi pushed Gir away.

"Contact lenses and a wig? That isn't a disguise, Zim. That's just sad. I, on the other hand, look just like a human girl."

"So do I!" Zim said, provoked.

Tak smirked. "A human _girl_?"

"-No! Don't play your mind games on me!"

"Enough!" Tak shouted. "Listen to us, squabbling like a couple of smeets over a lost toy. Well, I suppose that isn't much of a step-down for you, but I for one have better things to do than argue about such petty subjects. There are more important things to be fighting about."

"You know I'm going to win again, Tak!"

"We'll see about that." She slammed the door in Zim's face.

* * *

Gir squeezed his rubber moose in thought. He still felt odd; not bad, just… different. MiMi. She kept on appearing in his head. He smiled at the thought of her. She was so nice. He was glad they were bestest friends.

Wait… Gir remembered seeing something like this on TV. On the show, there was a guy who worked at… some place, Gir couldn't remember now. And there was a girl who worked there too. The guy told his friend that he couldn't stop thinking about that girl. And then the guy said something… that he was in love with the girl. Yes! That was it!

Was Gir in love with MiMi? It sounded right. Maybe Master would know. He was so smart. But… he always got mad when Gir talked about MiMi. He'd start yelling and it wasn't really fun. So no, he couldn't do that.

This was something Gir was going to have to figure out alone.


	5. The Strangest Thing

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers! :D

Invader Cakez: That seems really in character for the Computer for some reason. XD  
Guest: I assume that smiley face means you like it? Thanks!  
Star Timeblazer: Thank you! Here it is!  
HyperSpooches58: Yay, I'm glad you liked that part, I thought it was funny and I'm glad I'm not the only one.

AlmightySmallestMizena: Thanks! I try. :3

Now, without further ado, here is... CHAPTER 5!

* * *

The next morning at around 10 am, a while after Tak had gone off to skool, MiMi heard a knock on the door. She peered out the keyhole. It was Gir.

"MiMi! Hi MiMi!" The knocks continued. "I wanna come in!"

No, MiMi wasn't going to do that. Tak would not be pleased if MiMi let Gir come in. She turned away from the door and began to walk away, thinking he'd leave if he got no answer.

"MiMi, MiMi, MiMi, MiMi, MiMi, MiMi, MiMi, MiMi-"

She then realized he wasn't going to go away unless she told him to. She opened the door, walked out, and closed it behind her.

"Good mornin', MiMi!" Gir said.

MiMi took out her notepad. _I never consented to continue these meetings, _she wrote.

Gir picked up the note, read it, and stared blankly at her. "Huh?"

_I didn't agree to keep seeing you like this._

"Oh." He blinked. "I made you some waffles!" Gir unzipped his dog suit, opened his head, and pulled out a stack of butter-coated waffles. Smiling, he held them out towards MiMi.

_I do not understand what you expect me to do with these._

"Eat 'em!"

MiMi stared at him for a moment. When he didn't get the message, she wrote another note.

_You do not seem to realize I am incapable of that. Also, I do not require sustenance, so it would be unnecessary and pointless besides._

Gir looked confused.

_I can't eat because I don't have a mouth, and there's no reason for me to anyway. _She really had to simplify things a lot for him.

When Gir read the note, he looked sad. Tears began to fall from his eyes. "But… I made them just for you…"

_That does not change the fact that there is nothing I can do with them._

He sniffed. "Okay… Bye, MiMi." He put the waffles back in his head and began walking sadly in the direction of his home.

When MiMi went back inside, she was overcome by something strange. She couldn't quite determine why, but she felt as if she should have taken the waffles.

But there is no reason why I should have, she thought to herself. I have no use for them.

This feeling was similar to a few times when she had failed to carry out her mistress's wishes. This wasn't often, of course, but very occasionally something was unattainable. In those cases, MiMi felt similar to the way she did now. Guilt. That was what it was called.

But MiMi had done nothing wrong, she knew that. It was not as if she intended to upset him. She was only being realistic. Besides, he was her enemy.

It was the strangest thing. Although MiMi had determined that there was nothing for her to feel guilty about, her conclusion didn't make the feeling subside.

Something odd was happening to MiMi. Something that logic couldn't explain.

* * *

Gir walked home, now brightened from his earlier sadness. Okay, so MiMi hadn't wanted his waffles, but all that meant was that he had to give her something else! The only problem now was what to give her.

"I can make her tacos!" he exclaimed.

Wait. There was a similar problem there. What could he give her that wasn't food…? Maybe he could draw her a picture. Yes! That was it! Gir was so excited at this new idea that he ran all the rest of the way home. When he got there, he took out some paper and a pack of scented markers and flopped onto the living room floor. He stuck his tongue out in concentration as he tried to think of what to draw.

Hearts. Hearts meant love, he should draw some hearts. He took out a red marker and sniffed it. It smelled like cherry soda.

"I like cherry soda!" he said out loud to himself. Hmm… Maybe it tasted like cherry soda too! Gir brought the marker up to his mouth and licked it. Nope. Oh well. He scribbled a few sweet-smelling hearts onto the paper.

"GIR!" Master's voice interrupted Gir's coloring.

"Yeah?"

"Gir, yesterday I discovered that the humans' life depends on their sun. So that means all I need to do is construct a giant fire hose and spray it on the sun! I need you to go out and gather as many hoses as you can. Most of the humans have them in their yards."

"I'm busy," Gir said. He began adding a pig into the picture.

"What could you be busy doing?" Master came into the room and looked at what Gir was doing. "Gir, you're just drawing a picture. That can wait."

"But it's a reeeeealllly important picture!" Gir insisted.

"Why?"

"'Cuz… 'cuz…" Gir couldn't tell Master why the picture was important. He just couldn't! But he couldn't think of anything else to say either.

"Go and get me the hoses!"

Gir flopped his antenna down and gave Master the saddest look he could manage.

"Fine. But hurry."

"YAY!" Satisfied, Gir flopped back onto the floor and continued adding to MiMi's picture.

* * *

A/N: What's happening to MiMi right now reminds me of a song I discovered recently called Kokoro. Well, some of the song, anyway.


	6. Kokoro

MiMi didn't tell Tak about her last encounter with Gir. That guilt… her mistress would surely think MiMi was betraying her. But she wasn't. MiMi would never. She wasn't on their side. She still supported her mistress in full. True, she didn't do anything wrong by Gir coming to visit her, but… The whole thing felt wrong. So did this, however. MiMi had never kept a secret from Tak before. She'd never had a secret to keep. Her existence was dedicated to serving Tak- that was all. There was nothing else to tell.

Her life was a simple one. Tak was her mistress, she was to do as she told her, and be loyal to her. That was all. Everything was straightforward, without things like emotions to get in the way of doing her job… until that day they'd crash-landed on Earth. Then, things got more and more complicated. And the root of it all… was Gir. What was he doing to her? Could he be taking over her again? No, when that had happened MiMi had no control. She was in control of her body now. But she didn't understand. She hated not understanding. She was supposed to be able to figure anything out. But this wasn't like anything else… it made no sense.

The closest thing she could come up with to a solution was the decision to stay away from Gir. If he was causing these feelings, if she didn't see him for long enough, perhaps things would go back to normal.

Unfortunately, Gir had other ideas. Ideas that involved coming to see MiMi every day after Tak and Zim had left for skool. In fact, the next morning, it was no sooner than Tak had thrown a "goodbye" and a "watch the base" in MiMi's direction and boarded the bus that Gir appeared at the door.

MiMi ignored the knocks, determined to completely avoid any interaction with him. After about 30 minutes, he finally gave up and left, but not before sliding something under the door. MiMi picked it up.

It was a piece of paper, with some pictures scribbled in marker. There was a rainbow, an abundance of red hearts, a crudely drawn pig, and what appeared to be tacos with faces sliding down the rainbow. She flipped the paper over. The back read "TO MIMI. PS: MINIMOOSE SAYS HI." The letters were blue, and several of them were backwards. Why would he give her this? It served no logical purpose whatsoever. She took the useless paper in her larger claw and was about to crumple it… but she stopped.

_This has no use. It tells me nothing. I do not need it, _she thought. But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to destroy it.

_Even if it is completely purposeless, it was a kind gesture._

A kind gesture? When did she start caring about that sort of thing? MiMi's life was governed by logic and reason, not confusing things like emotion and kindness. She'd always thought that the universe would be more efficient if everyone were like her. Things would get done so much faster.

Besides, it was a kind gesture by an enemy.

But somehow, she still couldn't bring herself to destroy the picture.


End file.
